Travel Tuesday: Topsail Island

Continuing on our journey...we spent some time on Topsail Beach...what a fabulous beach!  And it was NOT crowded!!

Believe it or not, I had NEVER tried Fried Pickles!  I thought I would not like them...so even though we have been all over the south and the caribbean...we have never tried them.  So...my sister said you HAVE to try them....Holy Cow!  I have really been missing out!!

A new southern favorite!!

We also were told that we must try this particular bakery and it certainly did not disappoint!!  Those cinnamon rolls....WOW!  Perfect iced coffee!  It was really, really good...highly recommend!

Anyone who knows me...knows that I adore Alex and Ani!  So, I always have to find a store that sells my favorite brand.  I was so happy that I found Mia's Marketplace!  And, they had JUST the ring I was looking for!  My husband does not like shopping in ANY form...but he tolerates it a little.

I know one thing...I would not like to visit this place in the summertime.  The traffic would be INSANE!!  April is the perfect time to go!  And in the summer...it would be WAY too HOT!!  As it was, it was pushing 80 while we were there some days.  80 is about my limit!

Ben just loves to take pictures of me with various "creatures"...so here are a few of those!

And there you have it!  Next time I will show you a little bit of the RV Park where we stayed...I would definitely recommend it!

Airlie Gardens Continued...

I admit...this post is pretty photo heavy!  But, there were SO many things to photograph!

 

  

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed strolling along in the gardens with us!

I would love to go back during the Azalea Festival!!  We were told that the gardens are not nearly as beautiful this year due to the strange weather patterns they had over the winter.

Minnie Evans: The Artist of Airlie

For anyone who knows American folk art, Airlie Gardens means something more; it was the inspiration for the vibrant, colorful, and intricate paintings of Minnie Evans.

Evans came to Wilmington with her mother in 1893, when she was a year old. Her mother remarried a man who was employed by Pembroke Jones, a wealthy industrialist, and by the age of 17 Minnie found work as a domestic in the Jones household. Jones’ wife, Sarah Green Jones, was the one who established Airlie Gardens. From 1948 to 1974 Minnie was the gatekeeper at Airlie, collecting admissions and selling her artwork. She painted her delicate and fantastical scenes as a result of a divine vision when in a dream god told she must paint or die. Her art works depict angel and ornately adorned figures but the art work clearly evokes the lushness and greenery of the garden setting that she saw every day. She once said, “God has some 600 shades of green, and He dressed the world with them.” To her the natural surroundings were a divine revelation, as one can readily see in her painting displayed in the Fenimore Art Museum collection dedicated to Minnie and or at special showings at the Cameron Museum of Art in Wilmington.

Minnie sold her artwork at Airlie, and had her first “exhibitions” there, spreading her paintings on the lawn at the gates entrance offering many for only fifty cents or a dollar. She died in 1987, but her work is so connected with the site that local artists created a memorial sculpture garden within Airlie in her honor. Bottle Chapel, sculptures and its garden were constructed in 2004 and has become a central feature to the gardens, popular with many visitors.

Travel Tuesday: The Easter Edition

OK....moving right along!  For today's post, we are sharing our Easter on the Road pics!

We spent Easter in an RV Park in Sneads Ferry, NC because it was the closest one to my sister's house...that was actually decent!  In fact it really was a beautiful park.  My brother drove down from CT and my sister and brother in law and B and I all met at a quaint little restaurant called the Village Cafe.  

What an awesome chef!  It was a buffet with ALL the fixins and they were taking orders for made to order omelets...that were superb!

**I debated and debated whether to post some of these pics, but I decided in LadyBug's memory that I would share them here.**

I hope you enjoyed visiting Sneads Ferry, NC with us and celebrating Easter.  

Yes, OF COURSE, we get Easter Baskets!!!

The Beginning of the Trip South...

I had planned an entirely different set of blog posts, but as most of you know, my world has changed so I am showing you some of our shots from the very beginning of our trip in early April.  

Most of these photos are driving days on the way down to Topsail Island, North Carolina. 

I hope you enjoy them.

It was really beautiful there and we all enjoyed it.

Wish we could have stayed there.

Friday Florals: The NC Edition

I took a quick trip to TopSail Island for a couple of days and here are a couple of flower shots I was able to get...

The downside of living in NY is how unbelievably GREY it is for SO long!!  It is wonderful to see the spring flowers come alive when I head south in April!

I sure did miss going for the month though...